Tue 9th February
Decent flights yesterday to Melbourne and then across to Hobart - Qantas treat you quite well even in economy. You get a copy of The Australian, which showed that Perth was the hottest place in Australia, and there was nowhere hotter in the rest of the world, including Africa and the Middle East. Picked up a brand-new Renault Koreos, and bearing in mind our experience last time, took out the additional insurance. Across the spectacular Tasman Bridge, through Hobart and 10km south to Kingston Beach to our new chalet - this time thinking beach would be about right - but the view over the Derwent River is stunning.
Into Hobart this morning for a stroll along the waterfront in nice sunny, but not too hot, weather - ideal for Brits escaping the winter, and Aussies escaping the Perth heatwave. We then drove up to the top of Mount Wellington - kunanyi to the local indigenous people, before the settlers wiped out the whole population. It was 10C cooler than in Hobart because it's 1.2km higher, but it was still beautifully sunny. The views are incredible - I'm going to need a thesaurus soon for these superlatives.
In the afternoon we had a very enjoyable couple of hours in the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Garden - it even has a sub-Antarctic house for plants from Macquarie Island, which never gets warmer than 4C. There are warnings that it is very cold inside in case any Aussies have palpitations. This evening we are off to Blackman's Bay for a meal at a place recommended by Lonely Planet.
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| The chalet in Kingston |
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| The view |
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| The oval down below - future Aussie victims of the mighty England cricket team practising |
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| Ross studying the Hobart waterfront |
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| Louise admiring the view from kunanyi |
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| The Tasman Bridge over the Derwent from Mount Wellington |
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| Louise admiring an English Elm in the Botanical Gardens, not something she can do easily at home |
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